Bricklayer&#39;s trowel



w. c. LAWRENCE BRICKLAYER S TROWEL April 1-5; 1924.

Filed April 5, 1922 A TTORNEY i atenietl Apr. l 4

fwiLma o. LAWRENCE, or TOBR-INGTON, connncrrcur.

BRICKLAYERS TRQWEL.

Application filed April 5,

To all whom it. may concern:

Be it known that, I, IVI LIAM C. LAW- RENCE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Torrington, county of Litchfield, and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBricklayers Trowels, of which the following is a specification. p p

This invention relates to bricklayers or masons trowels and moreparticularly to a combined trowel and level.

One object of the invention is to provide a device of this naturewhereby a bricklayer. or, mason may quickly determine Whether a brick ishorizontal without requiring the use of the long level commonlyemployed.

A further object is to provide a combined trowel and level having aleveling device mounted in the handle thereof.

A further object is to provide a device of this nature which will besimple, strong, cheap to manufacture, and very eiiicient and durable inuse.

With these and other objects in view, there has been illustrated on theaccompanying drawing one form in which the invention ma be convenientlyembodied in practice.

*ig. 1 represents a top plan view of a combined trowel and levelembodying the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the same.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken through the endof the handle, and showing the interior construction of the level.

In the ordinary process of building a brick wall, it is customary to laythe bricks in rows or courses having a layer of mortar between adjacentrows. In order to insure that the bricks in each course are horizontal,the workman is required to make frequent use of a heavy long level. Ifthe course of bricks is found out of level, the workman must thenmanipulate each brick and the mortar under the brick to make it level.The bricklayer must alternately use his trowel and level until the rowis correctly laid. This requires that theoperator must continually stoopdown to pick up his heavy long level which naturally becomes fatiguing.Moreover, much time is often wasted in hunting for the long level as itsometimes becomes misplaced.

With the present invention, the above and other-disadvantages have beenpracti- 1922. Serial No. 549,711.

cally avoided. This has been accomplished by providing a level in thehandle of the trowel itself.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denotecorresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10represents ablade having a flat bottom surface and formed insubstantially the shape of a diamond. The blade 10 is provided with apair of slightly curved forward sides 11 and 12 terminating in the tip13, and a pair of straight rear sides let and .15. At the rear of theblade and integrally formed therewith, there is an enlarged verticalshank 16 curved over backwardly and terminating in an upwardly inclinedhandle section 17 upon which is mounted a handle 18 preferablyconstructed of wood. The handle is held in place upon the shank 17 inany suitable manner, and its lower end is protected by a metal ferrule19.

A rectangular cavity 20 is formed in the top of the handle within whichan elongated level glass 21 is firmly embedded by means of plaster ofParis or any other suitable material 22. This level glass 21 which issubstantially cylindrical'in shape, is provided with a slightly roundedtop 23 and is adapted to contain a sufficient amount of alcohol or othersuitable liquid to leave a bubble 24 as is usual in spirit levels. Acover plate 25 having a rectangular opening 26 is secured to said handlewith its opening in alinement with the top of the level, by means of thescrews 27 and 28. These screws 27 and 28 are preferably provided withfiat heads which are countersunk into the cover plate 25.

In operation, as each brick is laid upon the mortar, it may be tested byplacing the blade of the trowel upon it, and thus if any brickis foundto be out of level, it may be immediately corrected without loss oftime. The trowel may also be laid upon several adjacent bricks and inthis way one may readily determine whether the last laid prizk is inalinement with those previously When using the trowel, the operator may7 exert force upon the blade to cause the bricks and mortar to becomehorizontal at the same time that he employs it as a level.

In some cases, with highly skilled workmen, a course of bricks may belaid with a trowel made according to this invention without the use ofthe long level. In the ordinary case, however, a bricklayer will notentirely dispense with the long level, but will use it less often thanwould formerly be required.

Oneadvantage of this invention is that it materially saves the time ofthe bricklayer, as it reduces to a considerable extent the number oftimes he has to employ the regular long spirit level.

A further advantage is the greater accuracy and increased speed withwhichthe bricks maybe proberly laid.

A still "further advantage is that it enables an unskilled workman tolay bricks with greater speed and more correctly than a more experiencedman without the use of this improved level-trowel.

lVhile there has been disclosed in this specification one form in whichthe invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form isshown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention isnot to be limited to the specific disclosure but may be modified andembodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. Inshort, the invention includes all the modifications and embodimentscomincr within the scope of the following claims.

aving thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, andfor which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. A bricklayer-s trowel comprising the combination with a blade formanipulating the mortar and bricks, of a shank connected to said blade,and a handle mounted on said shank, said handle having a level mountedtherein to indicate when the blade is horizontal, whereby the bricklayerwill beenabled when laying the bricks or smoothing the mortar todetermine whether the work is properly done.

2. In a bricklayers trowel, a Hat metal blade, ahandle for said blade,and a level mounted in said handle for indicating when said blade ishorizontal.

In testimony whereof, I have afiixed my signature to this specification.

WILLIAM C. LAXVRENCE.

